Thracian
Classification and Dialects The Thracian language spoken in Thracia is a Romance language. It is the most conservative language of all Romance languages, since it has retained most of Latin grammar. Writing System # Diphthongs composed by the e-sound change the letter e into ê', e.g. 'ê'''u /ε'u/ (=I'') # The last vowels of the pronouns and the u-sound of the word nu (=not) have to be merged to a word begining with a vowel by a hyphen, e.g. n-'odim (=we do not hear - and not : nu odim'') # ô marks that the o-sound cannot be dropped off to avoid confusion, even if the following word begins with a vowel, e.g. nô''' odim (=we hear - and not : n-odim; which means : we do not hear) # â and î indicate the same schwa-sound. Whether which you have to use, is based on etymological purpose whether the sound was in Latin an a or an i, e.g. clamav'â' (=I was shouting - from Latin : clamab'a'm''), but : 'î'ntelegere (=to understand - from Latin : i'ntellegere) # The only diphthong composed by the e-letter, but not applying to the first rule, is the diphthong '''ea pronounced /ja/, e.g. fem'ea' /fεm'ja'/ (=the woman - but notice : r'ê'alita /r'ε'alita/ - reality) # The diphthong /oa/ is represented by the digraph oâ, e.g. p'oâ'rta /p'oa'rta/ (=door - and not : /poərta/) Grammar Nouns Nouns in Thracian may be masculine, feminine or neuter, agree to two types of declensions, to five cases and even to definiteness and finally may be singular or plural. Declension First Declension Second Declension # Nouns like turi or coârpu have two stem forms : the nominative stem and the genitive stem, e.g. turi (nominative) - turin'i (''genitive) or '''coârpu (nominative) - coârpur'i (''genitive); these forms have two be learned by heart, since there are no rules for the changing stems # Nouns ending in a consonant in the singular nominative (or sometimes even accusative for the neuter gender since nominative and accusative have the same noun form) add to their definiteness ending -l the letter '''u, e.g. mercator'ul' (but : coârpu'l'') Use of the cases # Nominative : expresses the '''subject and the attribute of the verbs esse (=to be) and fire (=to become), e.g. Petru cena pomu. (='''Peter' eats an apple.); Petru eşt '''arcitectu'. (=Peter is '''an architect'.); Petru vele fire '''arcitectu'. (=Peter wants to become '''an architect'.) # Accusative : expresses the '''direct object' and follows a lot of prepositions, e.g. Petru vede femâ. (=Peter sees '''a woman'.); Petru veni a '''forul'. (=Peter comes to '''the shop'. - a(d)+ACC'') # Dative : expresses the indirect object, the object of the compound verbs of esse and follows some prepositions, e.g. Petru da rozâ femele. (=Peter gives '''the woman' a rose.); Petru adeşt '''femele'. (=Peter helps '''the woman'. - adesse=to help; ad'esse'+DAT, like ob'esse'=to hinder, ab'esse'=to be missing etc. but : pod'esse'=to can is followed by the accusative case); Petru vivi tene '''fluminile'. (=Peter lives far away from '''the river'. - tene+DAT'') # Genitive : expresses the possessive object (and some grammatical expressions), e.g. Petru eşt pater Clodii. (=Peter is '''Claude's' father.) # Ablative : follows mostly '''prepositions' and expresses the object of some verbs, e.g. În forul eşt Petru. (=Peter is in '''the shop'. - în+ABL''); Petru uţi martelî sâ delea murul. (=Peter uses '''a hammer' to destroy the wall. - uţere+ABL'') Sound changes (nouns) # If the nominal stem ends in a t-sound, it changes into a ţ after e and i, e.g. arcitec't'''u - arcitec'ţi''' # If the nominal stem ends in a c-sound, it changes into a ç after e and i, e.g. ar'c' (=castle) - ar'çi' Adjectives Adjectives in Thracian decline mostly like nouns and have just like nouns two declension categories. Declension First Declension Second Declension Sound changes (adjectives) # If the adjective stem ends in a t-sound, it changes into a ţ after e and i, e.g. foâr't' - foâr'ţe' # If the adjective stem ends in a c-sound, it changes into a ç after e and i, e.g. pla'c' (=quiet) - pla'çi' Nominalization The nominalization of adjectives is done by just leaving out the described noun, e.g. Vedêu foârţe. (=I see '''a strong one'.) Nominalized adjectives have a particular way to form the definite form : the definite clitics cannot be added to the end of adjectives like to nouns, but the defective definite pronouns '''il' (=masculine), la (=feminine) and le (=neuter) are anteponed to the adjective, e.g. Vedêu il foârţe. (=I see '''the' strong one.). Notice that since these pronouns are defective they make neither distinction between the different cases nor between singular or plural. Comparative and Superlative Comparative The comparative form is done by adding the prefix '''mai-' to the adjective, e.g. mai-'foârt (=strong'''er). The comparison is made by putting the adjective in its comparative form and putting the compared noun in the ablative case, e.g. Ursul eşt '''mai-foârt soreçi'. (=The bear is '''stronger than the mouse'.) Superlative The superlative form is done by adding the prefix '''mai-mult-' to the adjective, e.g. mai-mult-'foârt (=strong'''est). The comparison is made by putting the adjective in its superlative form and putting the compared noun in the genitive case, e.g. Sêu il '''mai-mult-foârt toţiu discepulorilor'. (=I am the strongest of all students.) Ultimative The ultimative expresses an exaggeration (more than...) and is formed by adding the prefix mai-mult-câ-''' to the adjective, e.g. 'mai-mult-câ-'''foârt (='''more than strong''). For the ultimative no comparison can be done. Irregular forms Notice : * the ultimative is always regular (mai-mult-câ-bun, mai-mult-câ-mal...) * the comparative always belongs to the second declension * the superlative always belongs to the first declension * the comparative and superlative of mult is always in the plural Verbs Verbs in Thracian may are highly conjugated and have got a lot of tenses : Conjugation Indicative = Present = * expresses present actions, e.g. Vedêu femâ. (='''I see' a woman.) * expresses '''planned future actions on schedules', e.g. Otobusul aveni a 18:30 orâ. (=The bus '''arrives' at 18:30 o'clock.) = Past Recent = * is formed by the auxiliary verb '''venire '(=to come)' in the present tense' followed by the main verb in the infinitive, e.g. veniu amare (=I have just loved) * expresses a past action which has just been done (mostly translated in English by the present perfect added with "just") has a resultative impact to the present, e.g. Veniu aferere spurçiţia. (='''I have just taken' out the trash. - the result is that the trash is no longer in the house/building, but is now outside'') = Perfect = * is formed by the auxiliary verb avere (=to have) in the present tense followed by main verb in the past participle, e.g. am amat (=I have loved) * expresses a past action which endures to the present moment and is mostly followed by a time expression (niçoziê, sempre...), e.g. Niçoziê am stat în America. (=I '''have' never been in America. - until now/the present moment I have never been in America'') * expresses uncertain past actions, e.g. Petru a capt clavele. (=Peter '''might have taken' the keys.) = Imperfect = * expresses '''habitual or repeated actions', e.g. Toţe sâbaţile femele pazaravânt. (=Every Saturday the ladies '''would go shopping'.) * expresses '''progressive actions in the past', e.g. Ivâ a forul când telefonul soni. (=''I was going to the shop when the phone rang.) * expresses '''descriptions in the past', e.g. Mêu pater era profesor. (=My father '''was' a professor.) = Preterite = * the verbs of the second and third conjugation have an irregular preterite stem which is inherited from Latin and has to be learned by heart, since there are no rules for them, e.g. vedere - '''vidî' or diçere - diştî * expresses a finished and completed action in the past, e.g. Îi a forul, compârâi trêi banane şi regrezî a domul. (='''I went' to the shop, bought three bananas and went back home.) * notice the difference between the verb '''esse' (=to be) in the imperfect and the preterite, e.g. Mêu pater era profesor (=My father '''was' a professor. - imperfect; my father is still alive, but is no longer professor''), but : Mêu pater fui profesor. (=My father '''was' a professor. - preterite; my father is no longer alive'') = Pluperfect = * expresses an anterior action in the past, e.g. Ante avenîi, iam profiçiscerânt. (=Before I arrived, '''they had' already left.'') Syntax Lexicon Example text